Snow Day

This picture isn't from today, but it easily could have been. This morning before work Jenn and I took Abbi outside to play in the snow. I'd like to say we had a great time. Abbi sled down a little hill on her but. She swung in her swing. She threw snowballs. She climbed around in the snow. Overall - she had a great time. I'll try to get pictures online tonight from this morning and will of course share them and stories next week.

Trying Hard

Abbi has been running a bit of a fever here and there the last two days, so we've given her some kids Tylenol before bed to help her sleep and feel better. Last night after giving her the medicine, because its laced with kid friendly flavoring, she wanted more. You can see her here trying very hard to open the little container.

Playing Tent

Its been a few weeks, but Abbi has gotten back into playing with her tent. For a few weeks she hasn't been to interested, but this past week she's really gotten back into it. She'll gesture for us to get it out and then once we have, she insists that one of us sit in it with her. She does this by yelling "sit" at us until we do so, or getting our hand and pulling us to the tent. Jenn of course took a few pictures, and you can see Abbi and I playing peek a boo with Jenn here.

Chocolate Milk

Yesterday at Pizza Hut we decided to get Abbi some milk to drink. She tore into it! We had to help her pace herself so that she would have some left over when the food actually came! We found out a few months back that she's to old now for a high chair. She does much better when we sit in booths and she gets to sit in a booster seat. She behaves much better, and seems overall much happier while we're out!

Big Shoes

Abbi likes to try on our shoes. It doesn't matter if they are mine or Jenn's, she just likes to try on our shoes. She's actually pretty good at walking in them too. My loafers are pretty easy for her to get on, and with Jenn's tennis shoes you can see Abbi attempting to "tie" the shoes. Its really cute to watch her get shoes and try them on.

Quilt Gift

Jenn asked me the other day to take a picture of Abbi with this quilt. It was a gift from my Aunt Velma (one of my moms sisters) for Abbi's birth. We used it in her crib usually but it was out for a wash, and Jenn realized we needed to get Abbi and it in a picture. So here's that picture. She actually enjoy covering up with it while I photographed her!

That Smile

I was commenting to Jenn the other day and again with co-workers today. I wonder how long it will be before Abbi learns how to manipulate Jenn and I. I mean she can smile at me and take away the frustration she's caused by the previous crying and whining all with a simple gesture. I took this picture from our bedroom looking out to the deck one Saturday morning when she was making snowballs with Jenn. I love that smile!

18 Months

She's 18 months, another milestone. This one comes with a doctor visit! She's still in the 95^th percentile for her age in both height and weight. You can see her updated stats in the bar to the right. I commented to Jenn after she found out her current height, that she's only got 2.25 inches left to go before she can ride the rides at Hershey Park!

The biggest change for Abbi over the past month has to be speech. She's saying just about everything you ask of her and she's really starting to recognize and remember words. She's got the easy ones down: mommy, daddy, max, up, down and of course no. She's also got others she uses pretty frequently like: doggie, sock, hat, more, please, bath and water.

A month or two ago if we would ask her to say something we would often get a "no" for response, or simply stared at as if we were crazy. Now - there's almost nothing she wont' try. She struggles with c, s, and k quite a bit, but the doctor told us that is perfectly normal. She's even managed to get ahead of the curve a bit since she can say a few 2 words phrases like "max no", "mom sit", "dad sit", and "more please".

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but now that she's 18 months old, she's finally gotten the hang of a tantrum. Its incredibly funny to watch. She will laydown on the ground, even if she was previously standing, just to kick her feet and hand all while whining loudly. It is actually pretty funny. She doesn't do it to often, so when she does I pay attention, more for the laughs than anything else.

In just about every other way, Abbi is the same. She's super smart, and of course fun to play with. After Christmas came a new bounty of toys that she has been working through. She's obsessed with baby dolls, coloring and wearing jewelry. Just like every other little girl I'm sure.

Finally, two weeks ago we took Abbi for her 7th laser treatment. I like to believe that we've seen improvement over the span of time, and the doctor seemed to agree. We've got about 4 more treatments before the doctor is ready to call it done for Abbi. Based on the technology available and how she is reacting to the treatment, the doctor seems to feel that 11 treatments will have the best possible effects.

Other than that, she's the typical 18 month old. She loves to play and run and everything else. I think if she could, she could run a mile or more. She loves playing with Max and us too. She's just awesome!

Ice Slide

I posted a picture of some of the ice sculptures on my other blog earlier today, and now this is a picture of Abbi and I riding down a two story ice slide. I figure that if I didn't have Abbi in front of me, I would have been able to get better position and use the coat as a means of sliding down quicker.

However, since I had Abbi in front of me, we went incredibly slow. I don't think she minded, and if you can look past the giant coat partially covering her face, you can see her smiling!

Also - Abbi is 18 months old today! A year and half goes by incredibly quick. I'll be posting some thoughts and updated stats on her tomorrow. She's got her 18 months checkup then.

Brushing Teeth

We've been working with Abbi for months on brushing her teeth. Some days she'll let us get in there for 10 seconds or so and brush, other days we're lucky to get 1 second. Although most mornings she does like to stand on a stool and "brush" her own teeth. She does this by getting water on the toothbrush and sucking it off, over and over and over again.

Loooong Coat

At the ICE Attraction a few weeks back it is kept at a constant 9 degrees F. As a result they ask everyone to wear these big thick coats to stay warm. This was the smallest coat they had to offer Abbi. It definitely irritated her that she couldn't see her hands. She did ok though, we ended up holding her the whole time.

Coloring

For Christmas Abbi got a table and chairs from Grandmom which we then put in the basement as the beginnings of a play room for her. We then got some cube organizers to put her stuff and she's all set. She loves playing down there. She uses the table as a great place to sit and color, and of course ask Jenn and I to sit with her at. Since we are FAR to large to sit in the chair, she agrees to let us sit on the floor with her. Here you can see her coloring in between sorting cabbage patch kids shoes.

New Coat

For Christmas we bought Abbi the coat you see here. After Abbi opened it up she had to put it on and she loved it. She still loves it by the way. After she tried it on she didn't want to take it off. We then wondered if all of the pictures taken for the rest of the morning would be of her in the coat. Thankfully she got bored with it a few minutes later and wanted us to take it off.

Fancy New Boots

For Christmas Abbi's Aunt Christine bought her these boots seen here. We've joked with Christine and Abbi that with them she's now fashionable. The other night at dinner trying to get her to show them off, she decided to also talk loudly and smile big for us!